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A different type of song today, campers . . .
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SAM HALL
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Some video performances:
Johnny Cash (1965):
Johnny Cash (2002):
Oscar Brand:
The Brothers Four:
Eric Clapton:
The Dubliners:
Paddy Reilly:
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Lyrics:
The Ballad of Sam Hall
Oh my name it is Sam Hall, Samuel Hall,
Oh my name it is Sam Hall, Samuel Hall,
Oh my name it is Sam Hall and I hate you one and all;
You’re a gang of muckers all -- Damn your eyes!
Oh, they say I killed a man, so they said,
Oh, they say I killed a man, so they said,
For I hit him on the head, with a bloody great lump of lead.
Oh I left him there for dead -- Damn ‘is eyes!
Oh they put me into quod, into quod,
Oh they put me into quod, into quod,
Oh they put me into quod all for killing of that sod,
They did -- so ‘elp me God -- Damn their eyes!
Oh the parson ‘e did come, ‘e did come,
Oh the parson ‘e did come, ‘e did come,
Oh the parson ‘e did come and ‘e looked so bloody glum,
And ‘e talked of Kingdom Come -- Damn his eyes!
So hup the steps I go, very slow,
So hup the steps I go, very slow,
So hup the steps I go and you muckers down below
Are standing in a row -- Damn your eyes!
I sees Molly in the crowd, in the crowd,
I sees Molly in the crowd, in the crowd,
I sees Molly in the crowd, so I hollered out aloud,
“Now ain’t you bleedin’ proud -- Damn your eyes!”
And now I ‘ears the bell, ‘ears the bell,
And now I ‘ears the bell, ‘ears the bell,
And it is my funeral knell, and I’ll meet you all in Hell
And I ‘opes you frizzle well -- Damn your eyes!
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The bawdy version:
Oscar Brand lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Now, my name it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall
And I hate you one and all
And I hate you, short and tall
You're a bunch of muckers all
Damn your eyes, damn your eyes
You're a bunch of muckers all
Damn your eyes
[Verse 2]
Oh, I killed a man they said, so they said
Yeah, I shot him through the head
Just to fill his mind with lead
And I left him there for dead
Damn his eyes, damn his eyes
I left him there for dead
Damn his eyes
[Verse 3]
Oh, the preacher, he did come, he did come
And he looked so bloody glum
As he talked of kingdom come
He can kiss my ruddy bum
Damn his eyes, damn his eyes
He can kiss my ruddy bum
Damn his eyes
See upcoming pop shows
[Verse 4]
And the Sheriff, he come too, he come too
With his bonny boys in blue
Saying "Sam, we'll see you through"
He can take a flying flu
Damn his eyes, damn his eyes
He can take a flying flu
Damn his eyes
[Verse 5]
To the gallows I must go, I must go
With those bastards down below
Thinking that it's a bloody show
Shouting "Sam, we told you so!"
Damn their eyes, damn their eyes
Shouting "Sam, we told you so!"
Damn their eyes
[Verse 6]
I saw Molly in the crowd, in the crowd
She was looking stooped and bowed
So I hollered right out loud
"Hey, Molly, ain't you proud?"
Damn your eyes, damn your eyes
"Hey, Molly, ain't you proud?"
Damn your eyes
[Verse 7]
Now, in heaven I do dwell, I do dwell
And the truth it is to tell
That it is a bloody cell
All the whores are down in hell
Damn their eyes, damn their eyes
The whores are down in hell
Damn their eyes
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By the way:
Etta James sings a song ‘Damn Your Eyes’. See her sing it live in 1989 by clicking on:
By the way #2:
“Damn your eyes” is the converse of “Bless your little cotton socks.” In each case the eyes and the socks figuratively stand for the person as a whole, so it means, “Damn you.”
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About the song ‘Sam Hall’::
"Sam Hall" is an English folk song about an unrepentant criminal condemned to death for robbing the rich to feed the poor.
Prior to the mid-19th century it was called "Jack Hall", after Jack Hall, a thief who was hanged at Tyburn in 1707. Jack Hall's parents sold him as a climbing boy for one guinea, which is why most versions of the song identify Sam or Jack Hall as a chimney sweep.
The Fresno State University website states that the printed collection Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy, dated to 1719, has a version of "Jack Hall". The Bodleian Library has a printed version called "Jack the Chimney Sweep", dated between 1819 and 1844.
Prior to 1988, the song had been collected from about 18 singers in the oral tradition, limited to England and the United States, and there had been only six sound recordings made.
Comic performer W. G. Ross adapted one version in the 1840s and changed the name from "Jack Hall" to "Sam Hall". The song also appears to have been adapted to fit the region in which it was sung; some versions refer to Sam Hall being hanged at Tyburn, some at Cootehill.
Also it is unclear what, if any, uncouth language was original to the song. Various versions have Sam Hall call his executioners "muckers", "fuckers", "buggers", "muggers", "critters" or "bastards".
Some versions end each verse with the lines
I hate you, one and all
And I hate you, one and all
Damn your eyes.
The melody of the song was taken from the song "Captain Kidd", aka "Robert Kidd", written shortly after the execution of William Kidd in 1701.
A distinct American version of the song, with the opening line "My name it is Sam Hall, it is Sam Hall" (or "Samuel Hall"), where the character is about to be hanged for murder, and various other often rude modifications, developed and became widely popular among cowboys in the American West,including in the Oklahoma range. This was fairly typical of cowboy songs, which were often adapted from traditional English ballads.
Oscar Brand performed the song on Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads volume 1 (1955). In concert, e.g. Le Hibou Coffee House, Ottawa, 1966, Brand used the following lyric: "... My name is Samuel Hall and I hate you one and all, You're a bunch of fuckers all, Goddamn your eyes, Son of a bitch, Shit." If a young person came into the club, Brand would edit this for comic effect to "... Gall darn his eyes, Son of a gun, Shucks."
Johnny Cash recorded a version of this song on Ballads of the True West (1965), re-recording it for American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002).[
Clint Eastwood recites it in the movie Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970).
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